The Chesapeake Bayhawks will look to continue their dominance when they face-off against the Ohio Machine this weekend in Annapolis, Md. The Machine will look to make a statement after a loss in their first game of the season, and what a statement it would be if they could knock off the defending MLL Champions who look poised for a repeat.

July 21, 2012: Chesapeake – 11, Ohio – 7 (Kyle Dixon has four points on two goals and two assists for the Bayhawks; three Machine players registered two points or more in the loss)

Ohio Machine

After they sat on the sidelines during week one of the MLL season with a bye, Ohio fell to the Denver Outlaws, 13-8 last Saturday, May 5 in their season debut. Though Chazz Woodson put Ohio on the board early, Denver tallied five straight goals in response, putting a wrench in the Machine’s plans for an upset. Lack of possessions heavily contributed to the loss according to head coach Ted Garber.

· “We didn’t have the ball as much as we wanted to and when we did we had some unforced errors that didn’t help” Garber said before noting that he was excited to go up against Chesapeake’s head coach, and friend, Dave Cottle this weekend.

· While several Ohio draftees have yet to link up with the Machine, Garber remains focused on the task ahead and not when they will join the fold. The bye week, alongside a tough first couple of weeks, is more than enough to think about without trying to put any more pressure on the rest of the team

· “I think the more I groan, [the more] the players groan so I try not to emphasize that or sell that around the players. It is what it is; [the bye week] gives a little extra time to rest, obviously, but at the same time you might lose your edge a little bit.”

Chesapeake Bayhawks

Starting the season at 2-0, Chesapeake has looked every bit the part of a championship team ready for a repeat performance. With victories over the Rochester Rattlers and New York Lizard, whom they held to just three goals last week, the Bayhawks will look to carry over their dominance in this week’s game against Ohio; a task that may be more daunting than it seems.

· “Ohio’s a young, athletic team, we’re still waiting to get some film on them so we can watch them. But they’ve got a great group of kids ready to come off the college inactive list, so they’re going to change quite a bit” said head coach Dave Cottle.

· Despite a strong start, Cottle mentioned that the under-manned New York squad they faced last week might not be indicative of how that match-up could go down the line. Chesapeake’s success in 2012 was being able to have the most players that could score five goals in a game; if this current squad is in fact better, they will help boost the ‘Hawks to 3-0.

· “We were at this spot last year, 2-0, and we lost to Rochester. So we’ll find out if this team in 2013 is going to be better than the 2012 team by, hopefully, how we play this weekend, and see if we can get to 3-0” Cottle said.